The Hombege Burglary

Southland Times, Issue 12771, 2 December 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Hombege Burglary

Everyone who is acquainted with the Eastern Counties has beard of Hombege, one of the seats in the possession of Lord and Lady Kirton, and some of my readers may still remember the famous burglary which occurred there about a dozen years ago. It was in the winter time, and the house was full of company, for the Kirtons were noted for their hospitality, and were never happier than when surrounded by a crowd of young folks. When, in obedience to an urgent command from head quarters, I arrived on the spot, I found all the inmates in a state of tbe utmost consternation. Lord Kirton was waiting in the hall and marched me off hurriedly to his own room. His lordship was a man bordering on forty years, with clear-cut features and keen blue eyes, tempered by a kindly expression. He motioned me to a chair by the side of a bright, sparkling fire, and proceeded without delay to state what he knew about the occurrence which had thrown them into such a confusion.

‘Yon see,’ he began, ‘the house is full of people, the majority of whom have been here nearly a fortnight. Everything went well until this morning, when Lady Kirton discovered that her jewels were missing. I must tell you that we had a ball last night, and, unfortunately, she must have omitted to lock them up in her safe. You may be sure the discovery caused us an unpleesant quarter}of an hour, and the annoyance was intensified when it became ■ known that the thief had not been content with one haul, but had paid bis attentions to three of our guests in addition. Of course I immediately communicated with the police, but so far I must admit wo are in a hope less fog. One point indeed seems clear but it only makes the affair 'more com plicated ; there has been no forcible entry from ths outside. It is just possiblethat the thief may have slipped in unperceived last evening and secreted himself, but the queer thing is that he should have known which rooms to select and which to avoid.

‘ What about your .servants i” I suggested ; ‘is suspicion likely to attach to any of them ?’ His lordship laughed pleasantly. ‘ Well, Mr Muir,’ he answered, ‘ of course any thing is possible, but 1 believe my servants to be as trust orthy as my own family.’ ‘And no strangers have been noticed near the place ?’ ‘No I’

I began to consider, for the situation was fast becoming incomprehensible. According to my host’s account, the theft was committed by some one inside the house. His servants he strenuously asserted were innocent, and I felt rather inclined to believe him, for tbe work had been done far too skilfully for a novice, and bore the marks of a master hand. For the same reason it seemed useless to concern myself with his guests ; the owner of Hombege was scarcely likely to be on visiting terms with an accomplished burglar. For form’s sake, however, I asked him for a list of hie visitors, and went carefully through it. One name struck me —that of Glyn Vaughan. Not that I knew anything wrong about the gentleman, only he had already squandered one large fortune, and was popularly supposed to be rapidly running through another.

* Of course,’ I said in a careless manner, ‘ none of your guests have left the house/ ‘No,’ he answered, 'they are all here, except Glyn Vaughan, who received a telegram unexpectedly this morning, and had to hurry off to Manchester. But we could not suspect him.’ ‘ Certainly not,’ I assented readily enough; but at the same time I was asking myself why, if hie presence was required so urgently in Manchester, I should have caught a glimpse of him that very afternoon, in a compartment of the up-train to London. ‘lt has not been a very pleasant visit for Mr Vaughan, I am afraid,’ Lord Kirton continue 1; ‘he did mot get here until late on Tuesday night, and all day yesterday he waa racked with neuralgia. He could not even go down to the ice, which was a great disappointment, for he is passionately fond of skating.’ ‘ Did he come to the dance ?’

‘ Well, yes, he just looked in ; but there is not much pleasure in a ball-room when one is racked with pain, and he soon retired to his own room.’

‘I presume there is no objection to my seeing Mr Vaughan’s room.’ ‘Certainly not. But surely you would not suspect ’ I interrupted his speech with a wave of the hand. ... . ..A . ‘Your lordship must admit that it would be very impolitic to suspect any one until I have made myeelt acquainted with all tbe bearings of tbe case ; and for that purpose I should like to inspect Mr Vaughan’s room.’ ‘ As you plfa’te,’ he remarked carelessly ; but I knew that in his heart he thought my request slightly childish.

As I had more than half suspected, Glyn Vaughan’s room w»s admirably situated if its occupier had really entertained any felonious design. After a rapid survey of the apartment, I was just turning to go out, when 1 caught sight in the corner of a crumpled paper. It was evidently the telegram which had so unceremoniously hurried Mr Vaughan’s departure that very morning, and with a lively curiosity I crossed the xoom and picked it up,

To my surprise, Lord Kirton’s story was correct. It had reil'y come from Manchester, and its purport was apparently clear enough. ‘P. is getting restive, Will have settlement immediately. Come without delay to old address.’ This fitted in so exactly with my preconceived opinion that I determined to follow Mr Vaughan at once, and, if necessary, arrest him on suspicion of being concerned in the Hombege burglary. By this time the evening was wearing on, but I felt the necessity of immediate action, and begged Lord Kirton to let his man drive me to the station. He consented with evident reluctance, after urging me to stay and partake of some refreshments, and very soon I was being driven rapidly to Kirton, the nearest market town. Here a disagreeable surprise awaited me. Vaugban had undoubtedly wired to Manchester, and bad himself travelled in that direction,

Here was an obstacle in the path at the very start, for I could have sworn that I had seen him in the London train. Only on one hypothesis could I build up an explanation which seemed at all plausible. Assuming that tbe missing man, being hard pressed for money, hac! stolen the jewels, the receipt of the Manchester’ telegram would afford a splendid excuse for an immediate bolt.. In case suspicion should be attracted to him, he might have wired to Manchester to say he was coming, and even covered a part of tbe journey. A fresh ticket at one of the intermediate stations, a change into the London train, a night passage to Boulogne, a hurried trip through France into, Spain, and tbe game was won. Tbe longer I examined the situation, the stronger my conviction grew, and it was with a thorough feeling of disappointment that I took my seat in a London train.

My first visit in the metropolis was paid to Vaughan’s rooms, which were untenanted. His, landlady, who had long since retired for the night, got up with a very bad grace to give me this information, and in .answer to further questions intimated that she knew no thing of his movements since the previous Monday, He rushed in hurriedly, she said, about half-past ten on the Monday night, packed up a few things, explained that he was going into the country for a few days, and vanished, almost bofore she realized his presence. Here was another queer thing. Mr Vaughan had arrived at Hombege late bn the Tuesday night; where had he passed the interval ? Were his affairs so pressing that he had paid, a secret visit to the north in order to consult his Manchester friend ? It certainly looked not unlike it.

Meanwhile where was he at present ? From the very moment when the train to Manchester steamed slowly out of the station at Kirton, Glyn Vaughan disappeared completely. I knew the night boats were being carefully watched, and being thoroughly worn out by the day’s work, I determined to go to my lodgings and get a few hours’ sleep. My anticipations that Vaughan would be apprehended at Dover were not fulfilled ; indeed, from the reports sent in to me, it was almost an absolute certainty that he had not been there. Was it possible, after all, that I had been mistaken ? Could he have carried out his declared intention of proceeding to Manchester in response to the telegram ? Here another curious thing came to light. The message which Mr Vaughan handed in at Kirton was never delivered, as no such address as he had written could be discovered ; which fact seemed to favour the idea that my original supposition was the correct one, and that by this time he was well out of the country. , . Another queer circumstance in connection with the case was that no one had seen him later than tbe previous Monday. Plenty of people had met him on the Monday evening- For one thing he dined at his club, and after drinking rather freely, left hurriedly in order to keep an important engagement. This brought one or two other questions forwr d very prominently. Had he already kept his engagement when he paid the flying visit described by his landlady, and where was his time spent on Tuesday before he took his ticket for Kirton ?

That he must have gone down by the last train I already knew from Lord Kirton, but what had happened during the interval ? Why, if tbe scheme had been mapped out beforehand, had he not made p eparations for flight, which from his rooms it did not seem he had done ?

All these things, added to the fact that the theft bore no trace of an amateur’s hand, puzzled me considerably, and the whole affair seemed to grow much more mysterious. All the machinery usual in such cases was set in motion, but without avail; nothing cculd be heard of the missing man,

One evening I fancied I saw him coming from a second-rate club, and hastening across the road, accosted him. The gentleman turned, and with a gracious smile, exclaimed :

‘I trust you are not the bearer of a writ also; one unfortunate fellow has been doomed to disappointment within the last few hours,’ and drawing a case from his pocket,he hruded me a card on which was neatly inscribed the name—‘Mervyn Hawke.’ ‘When you meet Mr Vaughan,’ he continued pleasantly, ‘perhaps you will kind'y give him my compliments, and remind him that I still hold two of his pieces of paper, which have not been settled. Very sorry you should have been disappointed. Goodevening,’ and with a low bow he turned away, leaving me staring blankly at the bit of pasteboard between my fingers. Presently I, too, took my departure, and sought my chief. ‘Mervyn Hawke!’ he eaidibriskly, in answer to my question. ’Yea, he is far and away the cleverest and most consummate scoundrel in London. A gentleman by birth, a gambler from choice, and a suspected thief, though we have never proved anything against him,’ After this I promptly commenced a second investigation, the result of which left me worse off than ever. On the Monday Mervyn Hawke had gone to Greenwich and did not return till early on Tuesday morning, when he went to bed. At three o’clock two gentlemen were admitted to his rooms, where Air Hawke, who had just risen, was having lunch. Later on, the landlady went in to put out refreshments,and was ordered to tell any callers that her lodger was out. It was then twenty minutes past four, and Mr Hawke was still in bis dressinggown. She remembered the time perfectly, because one of the gentlemen looked at the clock and remarked—‘Twenty minutes past four ; the captain will not be here now.’ She heard nothing more of the gentlemen—but that was not strange, her lodger’s v’sitors were always quiet — until abou': four o’clock in the morning. At that time she was awakened by the sound of footstep.*', and some one—Mr Hawke, she presumed,though she would not swear to the voice—called to say she need not be alarmed, they were all going out. The woman’s statement as to the time on Tuesday afternoon was fatal to tbo theory which had begun to form in my brain, for the simple reason that Glyn Vaughan’s train left King Cross at a quarter past four, I confess I was fairly

beaten. The gleam of light which the meeting with Mervyn Hawke produced had vanished and left me in total darkness. . , r . As it happened,iny feelings of despair were rapidly chased away, and in this wise. The next night, shortly after twelve o’clock, as I was passing through Church Street, a quiet thoroughfare in the East Eud, 1 noticed a man lying helpless on ..the pavement. Concluding he was drunk, I called a constable, and had him removed to the station. Tbe divisions! surgeon at once pronounced him suffering from the effects of a.drug, probably laudanum ; and presently, to my great astonishment, I discovered that the senseless man was Mr Glyn Vaughan., , . Several hours elapsed before he came round thoroughly, and then t|ie etory he had to relate, was a remarkably strange one, though brief. He remembered dining at his club on the Monday evening, where he must have drqnk a great deal of wine, for on turning out ipto the fresh air he felt quite dazed.; and silly. He also had a notion of being placed in a cab; but his first real consciousness was finding himself in a bed, in a small, low-roofed room with a heavily-shut-tered window, and a total stranger by his side. . f ,

Slightly alarmed, he made an effort to rise, but was ordered to lie still until be heard what his companion had to say, Then this man informed him that he was in an empty house, where he would be compelled to remain several days. There were two courses open to him; either submit quietly to a short imprisonment or make an attempt to escape. If he chose the former alternative his captor assured him,he should be well treated and as soon as possible be set free, uninjured either in purse or person. If he did not care to accept these terms, he must take his chance, and the speaker pointed grimly to a stout cudgel and a cruel-looking gag. Vaughan, recognising the hopelessness of the situation, did not hesitate a moment, but cheerfully consented to the terms imposed, and gave his word of honor that he would not try in any way to escape or attract attention. Vaughan’s exit from this place was as mysterious as his entrance into it- One night the pair sat as usual playing cribbage when Vaughan, after drinking a glass of liquor, turned drowsy and stupid, and finally dropped into a heavy slumber. From that moment he recollected nothing until awaking in the prison. ’ He denied most emphatically that

had gone to his own rooms on the Monday night, and expressed unbounded astonishment when informed of the jewel robbery at Hombege. His amazement was so genuine at bis supposed visit there that I felt almost compelled to believe in bis innocence, though the explanation of his disappearance appeared so far-fetched and unnatural. Questioned as to his acquaintance with Mervyn Hawke, he admitted knowing him, but the connection between them appeared to be only that of pigeon and rook, which I was willing enough to believe.

The whole affair had grown so complicated that I determined to run down and see Lord Kirton, whom I readily persuaded to come at once to London. Like myself, he was completely mystified though it was evident he grasped eagerly at the chance which Vaughan’s story afforded of withdrawing the prosecution.

Indeed, he admitted as much. ‘You see,’ he said, ‘the lad’s father was an old friend of mine, and although I have seen little of Glyn, it would go hard to condemn him to a felon’s cell. Besides, you yourself advanced the opinion that no one but an accomplished thief could have effected the robbery.’ After seeing Mervyn Hawke he became even more puzzled, and I realised that as a witness for the prosecution he would simply prove a bukeu reed. Meanwhile the strictest investigation failed to produce any confirmation of the alleged abduction, which, seeing the material we had to work upon, was scarcely surprising. Mervyn Hawke, too, innocent or guilty, was quite safe from the law’s clutches. Hia landlady’s testimony would alone have sufficed to have ae cured his acquittal, bat in addition to this, his friend", Fisher and Graves, were perfectly prepared to swear to his movements during the Tuesday night and the whole of the following day. The chief laughed heartily when I told him the story. ‘Of course,’ he said, ‘Mervyn Hawke stole tbe jewels, and has by this time safely disposed of them, but he has been too clever for you. Your own witnesses are against you. Vaughan’s landlady cannot go back on what she has already testified ; the Hombege party recognised their visitor as the real Simon Pure,and there is not a flaw in the alibi, so what are you to do ?’ ‘But,’ I suggested, ‘what about the time? If the man was in his room at twenty minutes past four how could he leave the King’s Cross at a quarter past V Once more tbe chief smiled. Ta there not such a thing as putting a clock forward,’ he asked, ‘and casually directing an outsider’s attention to the falsified time ?’

Curiously enough, this explanation, simple as it was, proved the true one. Five years had come and gone since the Hombege robbery. Mervyn Hawke was dead, and Mr Vaughan had settled down into a respectable member of society, when I was cent to Manchester to receive a noted forger named Graves, who turned out to be Mervyn Hawke's quondam, friend. ‘Well,.Mr Muis’ he sa *d cheerily, as 1 handed him into the train, ‘ you have got me at last; poor Mervyn always prophesied it,and unfortunately it would be of little use to put the clock on this time. Ah ! poor fellow, he was worth a hundred of us.’